Hands Held High
by XxFrostbitten ReaperxX
Summary: She never asked to be a Spartan, but she was one of the best. She's a hyper-lethal, one man army. She's also damn well protective. Noble Six chooses to be sacrificed to ensure everyone who matters survives. But even in death, the ghosts of her past remind her why she works better alone. However, it's just not her time, for the war has only begun and her end is far from nearing.
1. Prolouge: Here We Die

**Title:  
**Hands Held High

**Chapter:  
**Prologue: Here We Die

**Pairing:  
**Master Chief x Noble Six

**Story Summary:  
**She never asked to become one of humanity's greatest warriors; to be a savior, a killer... a Spartan. But she made the most of it by becoming the best there ever was; a hyper-lethal assassin, a lone wolf survivor, a one man army. She's also friendly and damn well protective. Having braved through many trials of death and war at every turn, Noble Six chooses to be a sacrifice in order to ensure everyone who matters survives. But even in death, the ghosts of her past remind her why she works better alone. However, it just isn't her time, for the Covenant/Human War has only just begun and her ending is far from nearing.

_**Disclaimer:  
**__**Everything I own belongs to me. Everything I don't own belongs to Microsoft, 343 Industries and their respected owners.**_

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_**XxXXxX**_

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**18:42 HOURS, AUGUST 30, 2552 (MILITARY CALENDAR) /  
****EPSILON ERIDANI SYSTEM, UNSC MILITARY COMPLEX, PLANET REACH  
****ASZOD SHIP BREAKING YARD**

As a Spartan, everything before being conscripted is forgotten.

Memories, family, friends, and personal life.

They just go through so much schooling, training and field work that whatever they knew before was quite literally forced from their thoughts to make room for new memories, new family and friends, a new personal life...

But then there were those moments where something would make itself known; a smell, a picture, a touch, an emotion. Just a fragment of a memory.

All her life, Noble Six had gone through hell and back in more ways than one, managing to survive through thick and thin, never thinking of anything else but the mission at hand to ensure victory. By no means was she a mindless machine - even if she thought so most of the time - as so many thought of the Spartan's, she just had no other purpose but to follow the orders given to her. So when Six stood there on top of the Onager, realizing that with the _Pillar of Autumn_ gone and no orders to take, she was surprised to find the familiar feeling of abandonment in the pit of her stomach.

It was the familiar part that got her.

She felt it before, but couldn't remember where. Since her conscription, she has never been alone, at least not until she willingly set out on her own. But even then, she always had a superior or an AI in her ear, instructing her when needed or debriefing details on her latest assignment. Now the silence was near deafening, the dread of that feeling heavy. And she hated it. She had always believed everything happened for a reason. She knew as she fought that any death had a reason to it. Hers and teammates included. But never did she think that she'd feel an emotion such as this in the moments that could possibly be her last.

It didn't help that after the _Autumn_ went into slipspace, the guns of the surrounding Covenant ships she didn't take out immediately turned to her location, dropships unloading squads of ground troops hollering for her blood. It didn't help that Emile went missing too.

"Emile, report!"

Static.

"Dot!"

Static.

Six dropped her hand and cursed. The covies already dropped their jammers. There was no time for this nonsense. She acknowledged her... abandonment issues, and quickly filed it away for a later time. She was in no situation to dwell on anything right now except to escape the shipyard. Dropping from the MAC cannon, boots thumping hard on the metal platform, she pinged her location across the Noble COM - hoping somewhere that Emile, if he was alive, would be able to follow her trail - reloaded her weapons, and fled west.

She made it outside the structure when she met her first wave of Covenant fighters. She took them out in minutes. Wave after wave of troopers varying in size met her head on after that as she headed anywhere that wasn't near a potential glass site. Many times she had to ditch empty weapons and take arms with alien ones. They seemed to work better on their shields anyway so she wasn't all that mindful. At one point she was in a firefight for nearly an hour before she managed to take them all out with a single plasma grenade and a large chain reaction of explosions. It was a lucky break as she had to, yet again, dump her empty weapons for new ones.

Three hours, Six had traveled like this. Short handed, alone, and starting to feel the pull of exhaustion. She'd been fighting for two days straight with nonstop attempts on her life. Walking, running and hiding when needed is all she did. No breaks, no rations, no water, no sleep. Sure she trained like this before and could last much longer if she came across the essentials to survive off of - she was a survivalist after all - but the Covenant weren't Insurrectionists. Insurrectionists were human. Humans were slower, their senses nowhere near a heightened level and a Spartan would lose them easily whereas the Covenant had great skills all around. They were faster, smarter, and their senses were sharp enough to hunt her and anything with her scent down within hours. She could still hear the call of Jackals - their hound dogs so to speak - behind her.

She found water first, the source a waist deep river about twenty feet wide within the mountain valley and the first thing she did was plunge in it. All dirt, blood, and scents of any kind washed off her person as she submerged and waddled through to the other side. She'd be tracking water for a few minutes, but her trail would be lost until they picked up a new way of following her.

Free of chasers for a good partial hour, the Lieutenant finally came across a glassed base about five miles from the yards, stripped down to nothing but empty barracks, bare walls and dead bodies from the last team that held there. She could smell the rotting flesh through her air filters, indicating they were a few hours old. Rail guns were everywhere, as were barricades and several UNSC ordinance cases. From the spot atop a mound, she could see everything clearly, from the burning shores across the city river, to the Covenant ships glassing areas past the mountain range she had just come from. All around her the aliens took space in both air and ground, close enough to be seen but far enough away for her to stay elusive, unintentionally fencing her in.

It was twenty-two-hundred hours.

The Lone Wolf sighed.

And for once in her life, she dreaded that title.

From just a simple, solitary assassin that took out militia groups all on her own, to a team adamant on working together to solve a problem was a big change, one she hadn't looked forward to at all but kept up the appearance that she was okay to try it out. She was a one man army, unwilling to have a team simply because she wasn't willing to throw lives away if the need call for it. She'd rather put her life on the line first than let someone else do it in her place. They had more to live for; she just had war.

Unfortunately, being an ONI dog of pedigree status, she didn't have this luxury, no longer thought of as simple cannon fodder like Spartan-III's were intended to be. She had the armor and Spartan Neural Interface to prove it.

Noble Six was now the assumed last member of a team she was proud to say she became a part of. In a little over a month they were able to warn the entirety of the human militia about Covenant plans and evacuate most of Reach in time. The valuable information was safe within the AI she had protected and delivered, along with Dr. Halsey on Jun's end; she hoped so anyway. She had nothing to regret for herself. She had done a good job; more than a good job. Nothing was at stake besides her own life and she wanted to keep it that way, foreign feeling be damned.

But then how could she be so sure that whatever she helped get off planet was truly safe? That AI had chosen her for a reason, whatever that reason may be. Was it because she was the only one who could protect it the way she did? Was it because she resembled the other Spartan Jorge commented her to be like before he died? She wasn't sure, just like she wasn't sure whether or not that AI still needed her, and if it did... There was no other way off the planet unless she found another Saber launch site, an operational Pelican, or hijack a covenant cruiser.

She had to survive.

She wasn't abandoned or forgotten. She refused to think that way.

Kurt once said that Spartan's never die. They're just MIA.

She could still fight for this war.

She still had intel that someone may need.

She still technically had a job to do.

And if the only way to survive to fulfill that order was to risk her life and commandeer an enemy ship to escape off planet, so be it. In hindsight, maybe CASTLE Base was still standing. That's where Halsey and Jun went off to and she knew there was a dock station there. She was thankful for her knowledge in knowing the general location, having been there only once before during her test piloting days. It was about a weeks' travel on foot.

_The joys of augmented abilities to hold such old but important details._

Six shook her head. These scrambling thoughts were distracting her, she needed something to do in order to get back on track. She needed to make sure that their efforts weren't lost.

She had barely moved an inch before her HUD blazed to life.

Six ducked just in time to avoid the swipe of a pulse rifle aimed for her neck, rolling with the dodge to scope out the Minor classed Elite who growled at his miss. She quickly fired her pistol at the aliens' head. He roared in agitation when his shields flared, dodging away with unmatched reflexes behind cover. He charged her again as soon as he recovered, quicker this time, making the Lieutenant take several steps back as he shot bullet after bullet towards her own head. Ducking behind a barricade, she reloaded, waited only three seconds as his steps came closer, and darted out from behind the blockage to catch the alien off guard with a swing of her gun at his face, catching him in the jaw. She followed up when he staggered and made quick work of his shields with three furious punches, dealing a final blow with two shots to each of his hearts. The Elite fell dead in front of her.

War cries of anger had her turning around, and if she wasn't as trained as she was, emotions always in check, Noble Six would have balked at the five or so squads quickly advancing on her location.

When had they moved in so fast? How did they see her?

Simply looking up answered these questions and she cursed harshly at her own stupidity. Several meters behind her was a Phantom, the shimmers of a recent decloaking evident on how she missed it as it pulled away. The ship had already alerted other troops, she could see the other Phantoms and Spirits coming in closer, the spotting of a Demon too enticing to ignore.

Before she knew it, she manned a nearby rail gun and started firing. It was too late for her to try and run or to even try a tactical play. She'd have to improvise as she went. Several Minors to Special Operation Elites, Grunts, Jackals, and even Drones were out to get her. She picked off the smaller prey one by one, the small blast shield around the gun protecting her from the bigger shots of plasma fire. When it ran out of ammo, she resorted to her pistol and plasma rifle, shooting her way back to reach a more secure point of protection.

Again, wave after wave went after her, each a lot worst than the last. Again she found herself in a firefight that would either end in her favor or with her dead. Only this time, the battle lasted a lot longer than an hour.

Both moons were near their peak in the sky and Noble Six was frustrated, angry, tired, and desperate. The Covenant wouldn't stop! She lost count of how many she downed but nor did she really care. Her weapons were useless, she used up all that was left of the ammo and nearly depleted all that was left of any other she found, human or alien. All she had on her was her armor lock and combat knife.

She ran whenever she could, just to get away on a new playing field to perhaps get a breather. She managed to do this three times but they always managed to box her in last second with higher class Elites, making her retreat back. By the ninth time she tried this - she did say she was desperate - damaged and pretty beaten, is when they started sending down the Zealots. She knew this would be her last fight.

_Looks like I'm not getting off this rock after all._

The pop of her shields had her running faster back to cover. Pain suddenly riddled her side and she cried out. She ducked behind a wall and fell against it, a hand on the wound. When she brought it to eye level, she saw red, and lots of it.

_Definitely not gonna see another sunrise again either._

In the distance, Six heard the laughter of an Elite, no doubt brandishing his luck in mortally wounding a Demon. She sneered. That alien was dead. With a wound this deep though, it was impossible for her move as fast as she had been. Her visor was also cracked - a surprise swing from an Elites plasma caster catching her in the face - taking out her radar and essentially blinding her from the field. And the aliens knew it. So it wasn't a surprise when a Zealot came running around the corner, firing away with his rifle as she took in the damage.

All hits were direct on weak shields and she fled again.

She ran straight into a frenzy.

Another hit to her helmet made her cringe as the visor shattered. Useless, she ripped it off her head and chucked it at the alien who cracked it, resulting in the pained cry from a Grunt as the Ultra dodged. That's when she saw the assault rifle on the ground and jumped for it. She grunted as the pain was caked on, the Covenant unleashing their fury on her.

She killed a Minor coming up behind her, she kicked away a Field Marshall coming at her with a fist. A Zealot jumped into the fray and hit her protected arm when she brought it up in a block, forcing her to take a step back. An unexpected hit from behind brought her to her knees, the weapon knocked from her hands, and then onto her back as she was ganged on.

Four Zealots howled over her, one brandishing a sword as she continued to kick and flail and stab with the combat knife she managed to take out. Even while down, she killed an Ultra by stabbing it in the neck, and another by kicking it hard over the head, embedding a hidden knife from the toe of her boot deep into its skull. But it was already too late. Three more Zealots replaced the dead ones, and the sword wielder kicked her unprotected head hard. Another followed. She saw spots and was stunned. It was enough for the aliens to finally hold her still. The sharp blue glow of his weapon came down before pain consumed her entirely as it drove into her already damaged side.

Six couldn't help but wonder that even in death, she could hear gunfire.

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_**XxXXxX**_

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_**Author's Note:**_

Hey guys! So first off, bear with me on this pairing! It's experimental!

John is 41 and Six is 26. That's a fifteen year difference. I understand that it's weird for most people but I've grown to know people who are together and separated by age by twenty years. It's honestly not a big deal to me (it is if I was involved though, weird huh). I'm also taking in the fact that John has a constant streak of going into cryo, which slows the aging process. So even though he's 41, I'll probably make him look like he's mid-thirties. My Six, however, has no history of ever taking a break to need cryo, but we'll see in future chapters. Yes I know augmentations gave them a more mature looking body, but lets say it was a temporary thing for the sake of the story. Either way, this won't be a star-crossed lovers kind of story, I will be spacing out their interactions over the course of both games and books as much as possible until I deem it fitting for them to show an attraction towards one another.

Second, this story will jump back and forth between past and present times, both to show how my Noble Six got along with the team and how she's going to handle being needed in the future. Don't worry, I won't touch upon exact game play - sometimes I might just to get past a scene - as I don't want people getting bored by reading something they already know about. I'm more so going to touch upon the times that aren't in the logs while referencing what happened in the missions.

And lastly, this fic is also experimental. It's more so to give me inspiration to write and see where I stand regarding my styles through your reviews. Please help me out and let me know what you think. The more I know, the better I get and the better my plays will be :D Halo fans are welcome to inform me about something I may have left out or missed and I'll do what I can to possibly integrate it if it's absolutely necessary.

Until next time! :D


	2. Where We Started

**Title:  
**Hands Held High

**Chapter:  
**Where We Started

**Pairing:  
**Master Chief x Noble Six

**Story Summary:  
**She never asked to become one of humanity's greatest warriors; to be a savior, a killer... a Spartan. But she made the most of it by becoming the best there ever was; a hyper-lethal assassin, a lone wolf survivor, a one man army. She's also friendly and damn well protective. Having braved through many trials of death and war at every turn, Noble Six chooses to be a sacrifice in order to ensure everyone who matters survives. But even in death, the ghosts of her past remind her why she works better alone. However, it just isn't her time, for the Covenant/Human War has only just begun and her ending is far from nearing.

_**Disclaimer:  
**__**Everything I own belongs to me. Everything I don't own belongs to Microsoft, 343 Guilty Sparks and their respected owners.**_

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_**XxXXxX**_

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**14:28 HOURS, JULY 21, 2552 (MILITARY CALENDAR) /  
****EPSILON ERIDANI SYSTEM, UNSC MILITARY COMPLEX, PLANET MAMORE  
****UNKNOWN LOCATION**

"Holland, I've told you once, and I'm telling you again; _you can't have her_. Under what orders am I to follow that say I should release her into your custody?"

"The orders I am giving you now would suffice, Leear. For two months I have been told no by you and now I'm putting my foot down."

"What makes you think that's going to scare me? It's the same story over and over again with you, Colonel. You want her skills, but for what purpose? You have yet to give me any aside from you wanting her in your precious Noble Team."

"How about this, than. The Covenant are getting shifty. We had a dreadnought class vanish two days ago after our victory over Sigma Octanus IV. Continuous disappearances on their end have happened since in great numbers, and we don't know where."

"So what does that have to do with _my_ Spartan if the Covenant are running scared."

"_ONI's_ Spartan is needed on a plane that is worth her specializations, _not_ to be your personal grim reaper. Use of her as such is a waste of ONI's resources, and a waste of my time to have to track her down. The Covenant never mobilize from a fight without doing some major damage to our fleets. I've been stationing Spartan's on some of our most important home worlds as a precaution. Reach is one of them and my Noble Team is missing a member that her shoes can fill, both in skill and necessity. Now you either hand her over, or you can kiss your ass goodbye for insubordination and misuse of personnel when I report you to the Officials."

The man glared scornfully. It took him about five minutes to think a moment, pace, ruffle his hair in frustration, and sigh in resignation.

"You play dirty, Holland. When do you need her by?"

"Immediately."

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_**XxXXxX**_

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**25:54 HOURS, JULY 23, 2552 (MILITARY CALENDAR) /  
****EPSILON ERIDANI SYSTEM, UNSC MILITARY COMPLEX, PLANET REACH  
****UNSC OUTPOST FIFTY-FOUR**

It was barely hitting the twenty-six hour mark on the planet that was Reach, it's two moons shining dully in the distance. However, this did not stop the lit up Pelican from landing safely on the UNSC dry-dock, opening its rear hatch before the engine shut off to allow a handful of soldiers all too eager to step out, one or two looking back into the hold. The last to casually exit as soon as the engines quieted was a Spartan. Inside the confines of her helmet, she yawned, having just woken up from the three hour long trip. It was the most sleep she had gotten in one sitting in the past four days and she felt refreshed. She looked around, seeing the empty tarmac and sleeping machines, very few engineers up to do whatever it is they do. It was a quiet night, a peaceful silence she rarely ever heard anymore without the sound of an engine or gunfire in her ears.

She kind of enjoyed it.

The door to the pilots canopy opened up, the pilot himself coming out to stretch as he walked. When he came by the her side, he saluted her with a warm smile. "Good to have you tag along, Lieutenant. Let's not wait too long for our next meeting, yeah?"

She smirked. She liked this pilot. "I look forward to it." He nodded and walked off to chat with a engineer.

No sooner did she fully step out, attaching the weapon that was her DMR to her back, did a soldier appear. The man saluted as he came to a stop, looking her in the eye through the silver visor. "Lieutenant. Sergeant Mackey, ma'am. Welcome to Reach."

She saluted back and nodded. "Glad to be here, sir." _Not really._

"I hope the trip wasn't too boring for you."

"Not at all."

"This your first time on Reach?" Mackey asked with a nervous smile on how short her answers were.

_Nope._ "Yes."

"You'll find it exemplary, I'm sure. It's a nice place to be," she didn't say anything. He cleared his throat. "Anyway, if you'll follow me, I'm to escort you to the infirmary for a necessary physical before I take you to your destination assignment."

_Here we go. _The Spartan shifted her weight, not budging from her spot as the man made to move. "The infirmary?"

Mackey stopped. "Sorry. Colonel Holland, ma'am. He stated that you haven't gone to see a medic in some time by the records he has and will refuse any requests you may have until you are seen and claimed fit for duty." The man actually looked a bit scared having to stare up at her to deliver this news. Holland had picked him out simply because he was one of the few that worked with Spartan's before. That and no one was willing to volunteer. It didn't mean he liked it. The giants were notorious for keeping a clean bill of health anyway and so refused to see a medic on most occasions. But that's why they end up having all these types of scars from wounds left untreated, right? Stubborn asses.

But despite his inner turmoil of wanting to get away before this particular Spartan kicked him across the yard or something, the emotion displayed only slightly, she simply chuckled and nodded. "I can agree to that. Lead the way, Sergeant."

The man, ready to flee at a moments notice, was instead dumbfounded at hearing something so foreign coming from someone who came from a group that was known to say very few words, let alone express emotion. Hearing laughter through the helmets' speakers, sounding so melancholy, had him merely nodding in return before leading her away from the Pelican and towards the cluster of lit buildings straight ahead.

Inside was bright, the transitions of her visor helping to adjust to the sudden attack of light to her eyes. She was led down corridor after corridor until she was finally brought into a room big enough to hold a small troop plus some. Closed doors were to her right and straight ahead through more halls, to her left was a reception desk. The room was void of anyone else.

"Hmm, I'll go see if the good doctor is-"

"I'm right here!" The voice came from behind the desk, a second later a hand popped up to wave at them, then disappeared once more. "I'll be with you in a minute."

The Lieutenant blinked but the Sergeant spoke. "Uh, ma'am? Are you alright?"

The desk rattled harshly. "Yeah, I'm fine." The head of a middle aged woman was the next appendage to appear, her pale blonde hair kept up and out of her face but slightly askew from whatever it was she was doing. She propped her head on her now folded arms, not bothering to sit in the chair pushed away from her, and blew a strand of hair out of her eyes in frustration. "You guys wouldn't happen to have a spare desk cardkey in any of those endless pockets, would you?"

Mackey shook his head in confused bemusement. "Sorry, no."

"Ugh!" she stood up, showing just how small she was, and put her hands on her hips before promptly kicking the desk in her mild anger. "Stupid thing, always eating my cards. I don't know how many times I have to request for a new desk before they end up losing all the medical files of all their personnel, honestly." The two other occupants stood silently as she seethed until Mackey cleared his throat. He seemed to be doing that a lot. She looked up then and was flabbergasted. "I am so sorry, guys. Don't mind me, I'm just a bit tired is all. Not use to these late shifts just yet." she laughed and crossed her arms, her blue eyes bright as she turned her attention to the silent woman. "You must be Spartan three-one-two, I presume."

"Yes ma'am." She nodded, not at all bothered by being classified by her tag name, not many knew her name, or _any_ Spartan's name for that matter. Numbers and rank were the common designations among her group of people if names weren't known.

"You wouldn't mind giving this old thing a good kicking, would you?" The doctor pouted.

The Lieutenant smiled. "Unless you want the desk stuck in your wall, I'm afraid my services would only hinder your work further."

She laughed. "I like you already. I'm Doctor Traynor, the facilities new graveyard medic. Let me pull up your medical file and we'll get started. Thankfully I managed to get yours out before it locked up on me."

Still disbelieving of hearing jests coming from the armored woman, Mackey shook his head. "She's here for the full evaluation and armor repair, doc. I'll be sending a tech team to pick up the equipment."

"She'll be done before they finish."

"Armor repair?" The Spartan looked to the man.

"Yup. As soon as your armor is off, it's to be carted to the tech guys for repair and evaluation, as per Holland's request as soon as he heard you were coming ground side."

"No one told me I was to strip down." _Too bad you won't get anything out of it besides my operation specs. _Everyone who is anyone that's heard of her rep usually wanted the vids that accompanied her operations to see how she worked, what she finds. Her superior, however, almost always took her helmet away as soon as she came back from a mission to discard the information onto his own personal flash drive. Holland was no different when seeking what wasn't going to be there.

"It's regulation, I'm afraid." The Spartan merely nodded.

Traynor stood with a datapad in hand and motioned for her to follow. "It won't take long, promise. Thank you, Sergeant. I'll let you know as soon as she's through." He nodded his thanks and promptly left the room. "So, shall we get this over with, Lieutenant?"

"If I have to."

Traynor smiled warmly at the lilt of a whine, but she couldn't be too surprised, almost all Spartan's hated doctors visits.

Her assessment took nearly three hours. After a well deserved shower, lathering in the luxury she knew she wouldn't have for quite a while - which is why she accepted the doctors visit - the Lieutenant dressed in standard issue clothes that fit surprisingly well around her. Afterwards, everything regarding her physique and blood type was known by the good doctor. Including two wounds to her back and left leg from her last battle three days ago that needed to be sterilized and bandaged. "A battle with an Elite who had good aim," she had said. Any Elite that hit a Spartan was considered a good shot. They weren't severe, but a good cleaning would keep her from adding scars to the vast collection she already has.

Traynor grinned. "I deem you with a clean bill of health Spartan, not that I'm surprised or anything."

"I'll take the compliment justly," she let a small smile grace her lips as she pulled the shirt over her head once more. It was bad enough without her armor, with no clothes but the undergarments covering her was even worse. "Thank you, Doctor Traynor."

"It's not a problem, hun. Anything for the people who go beyond what's needed to protect the rest of humanity."

And just like that, the small smile became forced as she looked to the ground. "It's our job ma'am. It's what we do."

The doctor was quick to notice the mood change. "It is, isn't it? I'm so sorry, Lieutenant. I didn't mean to bring up something I shouldn't have."

She waved it off. "No harm, no foul. Thank you again, Doctor, but I'd like to see what the techs are doing to my armor," she stood from the observation table. "Would you kindly point me in the direction of engineering?"

With a small smile of her own, and a brief explanation of the buildings layout, the Lieutenant left for the door. But then she stopped near the desk, contemplated, and walked around it. She grasped the handle to the stuck cabinet and pulled. The locks were pulled out of place and slid out easily, a card dropping onto a stack of dark datapads and folders. Backing away, she nodded to the stunned doctor and walked out.

She heard laughter not a few seconds later, causing her to smirk.

* * *

_**XxXXxX**_

* * *

Corporal Gregory Johnson, Private Jake Scarbrough, and Corporal Hebert Cohana looked upon the hanging steel and ice colored Mark V armor with admiration. Within the span of just under three and a half hours - it being around two-thirty - they managed to buffer out all of its dents and scratches, and giving it a new coat of paint, making it shine like new. Granted there were a few gashes they couldn't make disappear but it added to the badassery that was MJOLNIR armor. In addition, they also added the upgrades they had gotten from Doctor Halsey not too long ago and transferred the data from her helmet over to Holland as ordered.

By this time, Greg cracked his knuckles and yawned, stretching his arms way over his head and leaning back in the chair he sat in. "You boys ready for round two?"

"I'm ready for bed." Hebert whined. "I didn't think the armor was this complex!"

"It's a work of art all right," Jake admired tiredly.

"Too bad we can't operate them," Greg answered. "The war would be much easier if all of UNSC distributed this equipment."

"You'd all be severely injured or dead as soon as you thought to move."

All three men whirled towards the armor assembly, startled by the drowsy feminine voice that snuck up on them. The Lieutenant turned from looking over their progress to meet their eyes.

"Holy shit, man! Give us a heart attack why don't you!" Jake cried, holding a hand to his heart.

Hebert stood up from his chair, eyeing the pale brunette woman. "We meant it figuratively, ma'am. We know the consequences" he smiled. "Are you the owner to the armor?"

_You see any other female giants standing around here?_

"That I am," she turns to them fully with a tiny smile, noting that Jake, the closest one to her, backs away slightly. She was used to it as not very many people are comfortable with those her height. She bordered on seven feet with the armor on. She could only imagine what they must feel. "How goes the advancements?"

"Excellent, actually," Jake, taking the opportunity to stand and step away, cleared the table top of papers and utensils, and pressed a button to activate the holographic display. "As you can tell, we buffed out most of the scratches, fixed the dents and gave it new paint. We also upgraded the software thanks to some of Halsey's schematics she sent to us a couple days ago. She's still working out some kinks for the next official upgrade, but this is what she had so far. Your reaction time should be up by a least five percent, and the battery coupling should have better distribution properties when you use, say, camouflage or armor lock. Your shields' will recharge faster, but not by much unfortunately."

"But we do have some things that might tickle your fancy." Greg walked over to a long stretched countertop and pointed to all the equipment sitting on it. "These are the latest additions you can use to upgrade the armor. We saw you had quite a bit already but it doesn't hurt to take another look at the newest toys," he then uncovered a cart to reveal several guns. "We also took the liberty to clean your weapons."

The Lieutenant actually smirked.

For the next two hours, the three males and the lone Spartan worked diligently with the understandings of her armor and what she wanted on it. She liked the original gear she wore but wasn't too concerned with changing things around to better her play on the field. By the time they were done, she had multiple attachments to her shoulders, knees, wrists and chest, all colored to fit accordingly. She was just stepping into the black matte skin suit - all three guys having turned away at this point to let her undress - when Sergeant Mackey stomped into the room.

"Lieutenant!" The three engineers startled at the booming call. Said woman only turned her attention to him after the suit sealed around her body. She was thankful for the cool feeling as she flexed her muscles. "I've been looking all over for you! The doctor-" he stopped just in front of her, drawn silent by vibrant green eyes giving him their attention. He eyed her face; the long pixie cut black hair lightly swept to the right in very slight waves to touch the bottom of her chin, contrasting hard with her pale skin but accenting her oval shaped face. Small scars were barely noticeable on her left cheek. The suit - blemished with circuits that connected to her armor - illustrated her strong lithe form, one he knew could just as well kill them all in a heartbeat if she so wished.

"How can I help you, Sergeant?"

He cleared his throat after he realized he was now technically staring. He wasn't used to seeing human faces behind the mask, let alone a female one who - in his eyes- was very pretty. "The doctor said you were here when I specifically told you to stay with her."

"I recall you saying for her to _inform_ you when my session was done," the Lieutenant smirked. "_Not_ to stick around."

Mackey sent a hard glare at the snickering engineers and sighed. "You're right. My mistake," he crossed his arms. "Well, I guess I don't have to tell you to suit up anymore. Holland wants us to leave ASAP, says he needs to talk to you guys as a whole. It's about an hours drive from here. You know your assignment?"

_Unfortunately, I do._ She followed this with a nod. "I was briefed before I landed. I have my orders, sir." Her voice was clearer and warm when not spoken through speakers, he noticed.

"Right. Well than, proceed. Meet me on the tarmac no more than an hour from now. We'll be leaving at oh-seven-hundred," he turned to leave but stopped, opened his mouth as if to say something, thought better of it and left. This irritated her somewhat and she shook her head. If you had something to say, one should say it.

_Says the person who hardly speaks at all. _She really needed to stop talking to herself.

"I think you got him tongue tied, Lieutenant." Hebert laughed. "He's never one for a loss of words."

"You see the way he was eyeing you?" Jake guffawed.

She huffed a laugh. "It's the charm." It wasn't the first time a soldier had eyed her. She learned to ignore them.

"So!" Greg clapped his hands. "How's about we get you into this armor!"

"I say yes," replied the Lieutenant as she stepped into the assembly. "Too much longer without it and I may end up getting a tan. God forbid that happen." She rolled her eyes in mock annoyance, smirking when she received actual laughs from the three men. No one really knew that she had a sense of humor, even if it was sarcasm.

* * *

_**XxXXxX**_

* * *

It was around seven-thirty in the morning. The hog rode smoothly down the trail to her destination, tailed by two UH-144 Falcons as escort. She suspected they were there to accompany the camp forces as well, but she couldn't be too sure. Either way, the droning of their propellers and the humming from the hog was somewhat lulling, and the scenery around her was beautiful.

The Lieutenants helmet was off for a good portion of the silent trip as she enjoyed the feeling of the wind passing through her dark hair. She rarely felt the wind on her face, having to constantly wear protection, and the feeling was nice and cool. But alas, when she saw the distant camp over the next few hills, tucked in a corner at the base of a mountain, she sighed and looked into the silver visor of the Mark V helmet. Weary but determined green eyes stared back at her.

_It's show time Spartan._

She donned the helmet, the hiss of its pressure seal a reassurance as the cool compression set in. Twenty minutes later and the hog was pulling to a stop, the two Falcons landing somewhere nearby. She stepped out with ease. "It's been nice seeing you, Lieutenant," she looked to Mackey, a smile was on his face. "I'll see you around. Kick some ass."

She tilted her head, and even if he didn't know what she meant, she crossed a thumb in an arch across the part where her mouth would be. Apparently he got it, as he laughed and waved while pulling away. She had just given him a Spartan smile.

She turned and was met with a helmetless stare from a fellow Spartan sitting in an idle Falcon. First thing she noticed was that his blue eyes were keen and thoughtful, no doubt assessing her actions he just witnessed. Not one to look away first, she kept it. She must have done something right since he smirked, shook his head and continued to mess with the sniper on his lap.

"First building to the left," she rose a brow at his accent, but nodded her thanks and pat the tail of the bird as she passed it.

Internally, the Lieutenant sighed, just knowing that was only one of five tests she had to pass. It wasn't like she hated working with others, she just couldn't stand losing anyone under her command. She worked better alone because she got the work done in half the time a team could without having to worry about someone normal.

Entering the building she was told to report to, it didn't take long to find out where the rest of her new team was. As soon as she walked inside, she immediately evaluated her surroundings. She counted four Spartans, all bearing different color schemes. Three wore no helmets, the fourths' donned a skull. All of them were well weaponized. Two were sitting on opposite ends of the room, two were standing. The only female of the group put her hand out to stop her from coming in further. The Lieutenant was a bit put off by the mechanical arm that was suddenly in her face and the multiple stares she received but didn't flinch.

The Lieutenant recognized her as Catherine-B320, a fellow Beta Spartan and her _rival_ from her training days. Both happened to be top of their company. Kat scrutinized her in most likely a similar fashion before calling out. "Commander."

The other that was standing happened to be working on a small terminal, clicking away at something. His attention was drawn towards her, a curious look in his eyes as he observed her from head to toe. She quickly classified him as Carter-A259 from the profiles she was given before she left. "Finally decided to get here did you?"

She smirked and shrugged. "Sorry. I'd drive over the mountains to get by faster, but I don't think that would bode well with the hog... or the passengers. Which is why I don't think they let me drive any time I'm offered one."

The Spartan with the skull helmet - Emile-A239 - chortled at the shot of humor. The bigger Spartan, whom she could clearly see was a generation two, Jorge-052, smiled. "I think our new Noble Six will fit in just fine."

_Score three for me._

"Maybe," Kat put her arm down to cross them over her chest. "If not for the parts of her file covered in blank ink. Which is nearly all of it, might I add. _Very_ reassuring."

_A bit touchy there? Not my fault I'm a classified mess._

"ONI likes secrets, apparently," this earned her a smirk.

The small terminal started beeping. Carter let the comment slide as he turned to answer the call, though she could have sworn there was a small smile adorning his lips before he did. "Colonel Holland, sir."

"Noble. Glad to see you're all here," he said this just as the keen eyed Spartan - Jun-A266 - walked in, the Lieutenant stepping aside to let him in. "I assume you've met your new Noble Six."

Carter nodded. "We have, sir. She just arrived."

"Good, I hope she can meet the demands the team expects of her as I have a mission for you."

"Sir?"

"I'll get right to business. Contact with Visegrad Relay was lost last night. All signals flat lined at oh-twenty-six-hundred hours. Around the time you arrived Lieutenant," this caught her off guard. "I responded with trooper fire teams that have since been declared MIA."

"If you'll excuse my abruptness, sir," she butted in, "But why not send me in when I was the closest one nearby, clearly fit for duty and hands free."

"Because at the time your armor was under repair and you were being evaluated to see if you _were_ fit for duty. May I remind you that doctors visits are _mandatory_, Alexis. _Not_ optional. I don't know how your last superior ran things with you, but they won't be the same here." That shut her up, the use of her name - sounding so foreign to her own ears - like a hot iron to skin. He must've really not liked the fact her files weren't accessible to scorn her.

"Sir." No one dare laugh.

"So now you're sending us," Carter continued as if there wasn't an interruption, though he gave the Lieutenant a query look.

"Yes. The Office of Naval Intelligence believes a deployment of a Spartan team is a gross misallocation of valuable resources. I disagree. It's what we made them for." That made teeth grind.

"Anybody claim responsibility?"

"No, but ONI may think it to be the local Insurrection. Five months ago they pulled a similar stunt on Harmony. Hit a relay to take out our eyes and ears, then stole two freighters from dry dock. Reach is too damn important to let that happen here. I want that relay back online Noble One and for you to find out who crippled us."

Carter nodded. "Consider it done, sir."

"Then I'll see you on the other side. Holland out." The feed cut out and there was a sighing silence.

"Looks like Holland means business if he's going against ONI's regulations," Jun commented. "He must see something that they don't."

"Or he's just paranoid," Emile stood up, holstering his kukri knife that he'd been playing with since the start of the conversation.

"It's Reach," was all Jorge said. He had a point too. Everything practically started here. If it were to be discovered or breached, the entire planet would go ballistic.

Carter turned to them all with crossed arms. "We'll get it done," he turned an eye to their newest member. "So, Alexis was it?"

She nodded and stepped forward to grasp his hand in a shake. "Not on terms I wished for you to know it. It's actually very foreign to me now."

"Well it's time to get use to it. Here, you're either called by rank, your number, or your name."

"Yes, sir." _Not like I have a choice in the matter._

"As you heard, I'm Carter, Noble's leader. This is your team. Jun, Kat, Jorge and Emile. Noble's Three, Two, Five and Four. We leave in five minutes," he pointed them out as he introduced them, all of them soon after exiting the room without so much as a backwards glance. Carter regarded her a moment. "Holland must have been picky with his choices in the last couple months to take this long in finding our last member."

"Two months, twelve days, actually," Alexis shrugged at Carter's raised eyebrow. "My previous superior was very vocal about it. Holland has been solely after me."

"Right. You're with me Noble Six," he grabbed his helmet off the table and put it on as he, too, headed out the door.

Alexis sighed. _Some welcome party._ But it was what it was, so she followed.

"Now I'm not gonna lie to you Lieutenant," he continued. "You're stepping into some shoes some of us would rather leave unfilled."

_Surprise, surprise._ "And what of you, sir?"

"Me?" the question came as a surprise. "I'm just happy to have Noble back up to full strength again," they both entered a Falcon, whose engines just started up. Jun was accompanying them while the other three took up another Falcon, all now wearing their helmets. "Just one thing," she looked up at him as he waved for the pilots to take off. "I've seen your file, even the parts the ONI sensors didn't want me to,-" _Well that will get you into trouble._ "-I'm glad to have your skill set but we're a team. That lone wolf stuff stays behind, got it?"

_I may not like working for a team but that doesn't mean I would outright abandon one for the sake of my rep._ She glared under her visor at the jab of confidence but gave a curt nod. "Got it, sir."

"Good."

Jun pat her shoulder. "Welcome to Noble."

Alexis folded her hands over her lap as she leaned forward and sighed. _This is going to be a long tour._

* * *

_**XxXXxX**_

* * *

_**Author's Note**_

Second chapter! Yeah!

So as I said in my last note, chapters will be going back and forth between past and present in spontaneous moments. If you read the dates and times I have at the start of the chapter, you'll know if it's past or present. Anyway, I wanna say thank you to the reviews I got. It's not many but I'm happy some of you enjoy my writing. But I must insist that reviews are like a lifeblood to knowing how well I'm going about this fic. Feedback is crucial to me and I will respond back to whomever decides to leave a review behind to explain further my intentions if they so wish. So please leave behind reviews, even if they're tiny to tell me "good job!" it's still something haha

Otherwise, until next time! :D


	3. Mountains to Mountains

**Title:  
**Hands Held High

**Chapter:  
**Mountains to Mountains

**Pairing:  
**Master Chief x Noble Six

**Story Summary:  
**She never asked to become one of humanity's greatest warriors; to be a savior, a killer... a Spartan. But she made the most of it by becoming the best there ever was; a hyper-lethal assassin, a lone wolf survivor, a one man army. She's also friendly and damn well protective. Having braved through many trials of death and war at every turn, Noble Six chooses to be a sacrifice in order to ensure everyone who matters survives. But even in death, the ghosts of her past remind her why she works better alone. However, it just isn't her time, for the Covenant/Human War has only just begun and her ending is far from nearing.

_**Disclaimer:  
**__**Everything I own belongs to me. Everything I don't own belongs to Microsoft, 343 Industries and their respected owners.**_

* * *

_**XxXXxX**_

* * *

The first thing Six woke up to was the pounding in her head and the agonizing pain in her side. The second thing she woke up to was the realization that she was awake to begin with and sat straight up with a gasp. She regretted the decision immediately when the pain tripled and she went back down crying.

How the hell was she alive!

Where was she?

Covenant!

Danger!

No weapons!

Dead!

Get up! Get up! Get up!

Pain!

She heard a shout of surprise. "Hey!"

Running footsteps thumped on the ground from... somewhere, as well as sliding rocks and heavy breathing. She heard metal and clinking. She tried to scramble away but was greatly hindered as she could barely crawl. _They can't get me now! I won't let them!_

"Damn it, Alexis! You had to wake up when I'm not here."

The steps stopped beside her and some shuffling was heard. Metal was placed near her head as well as other small trinket noises. Heavy hands grasped hers to keep them away from the burning skin, pulling her still and she struggled to fight them away.

"No!" pushing aside any and all pain as they were trained to do, she scrambled up to her feet and aimed a punch at her assaulter, hitting something in the blindness she found herself in, earning her a cry of surprise.

"Easy Six! It's me!" her breathing was hard as she tried in vain to focus her sight on the vaguely familiar voices' owner, but she refused to relent in her fight, stumbling when she realized moving wasn't making her side any better but worse. "Damn it, woman, you're bleeding! Let me help you!" the voice growled in annoyance when she made another hit. They stood up and practically tackled her to her back when she wouldn't stop. Her left hand was yanked away and above her head, a heavy weight pressed it to the ground, her right quickly followed and she screamed in agony as the position pulled the sensitive skin, her head flaring. She cried even more when something wet pressed against it, causing it to sting.

_Not here! Not now!_

All the while, the person now straddling her worked to clean her side, muttering under her screams about the noise, trying to shush her the best they could. She dimly noticed that they were trying to be as gentle as possible before she passed out.

* * *

_**XxXXxX**_

* * *

**05:12 HOURS, SEPTEMBER 3, 2552 (MILITARY CALENDAR) /  
****EPSILON ERIDANI SYSTEM, UNSC MILITARY COMPLEX, PLANET REACH  
****UNKNOWN LOCATION**

When she next woke up, Alexis was more aware of her bodies ache and took it in stride. Everything was silent except for a small 'drip-drip' echo further away. She was on the ground, lying on something soft but still relatively uncomfortable, and noticed that something was covering her torso - a blanket perhaps - her shoulders bare to the cool air but a small warmth to her left took the chilling bite away.

She opened tired eyes and was thankful to actually see, even if her first sight was immediately greeted by dimly lit brown-red rocks. Confused, she blinked and turned her head only to be met by small embers from a makeshift fire pit burning away the cold a few feet away. Turning the other way, she was met with a closer rock face, armor pieces lined against the wall.

Her entire armor in fact.

And every bit of it was covered in burns, gashes, and blood, the steel color now black and the ice blue nearly gone.

She didn't know how long she was staring at the shattered visor of her helmet, the module uplink now missing, before the sound of footsteps approached her. Her initial reaction was to feign sleep and wait to pounce the potential enemy, but then a memorable hiss thwarted this response.

"Hey."

The feeling of surprise never came even though she felt it somewhere in the recesses of her subconscious. Her eyes tore away from her head gear and to the voice above her. Everything seemed so fuzzy and dull, slow and tiring, as if she were running through tar, both physically and mentally. But when her eyes met the green ones of a familiar figure, she had to chuckle a bit through dry, scratchy vocals.

"Finally decided to get here did you?" she quoted.

He tilted his head, thought a moment, then shrugged and smirked. "Sorry. I'd drive over the mountains to get by faster, but I don't think that would bode well with the hog... or my discretion when getting by Covenant. Which is why I don't think they let me drive any time I'm offered one."

Alexis smiled. "Smart ass."

"You said it." He sat down beside her, setting down his helmet and dropped a few things to the dirt that she didn't notice he carried. They were slightly burned medical supplies and ration bars. Her smile faded.

"I'm sorry, Emile."

The older Spartan paused. He looked to her for a moment then back to finding anything still worth using. "About what?"

Alexis brought her left arm up and set her hand upon his armored forearm, burnt and gashed and covered in alien blood just like hers. She stared at each single mar of his suit. "For hitting you."

He scoffed. "You call those hits? I barely felt them."

She knew her hits were hard. They wouldn't hurt him, yes, but he could still feel the power behind them if she aimed to kill. Which she did. "And for leaving you behind."

Emile sighed at length. "You shouldn't be sorry. You had no choice. Just be lucky that I came in time to save your ass."

She pulled her hand away slowly. "You followed me?"

"Only when I got your location pings. So happens you were going the opposite direction. Had to turn around when I finally got rid of the Zealot bastards I was trailing."

Her hand fell limp onto her chest, her gaze returning to the ceiling. Her mind was slow, but she remembered being overwhelmed by Zealots. Seven of them if she counted right. She remembered being stabbed where her burn was if the throbbing in her side was any indication, and being kicked in the head by a hoof hard enough for her to see spots. Twice. She remembered all the blood she spilled, all the cries of death she heard, and the agonized screams of the angered as their brother-in-arms fell to just one lone Spartan. It was amusing as well as unnatural.

She startled at snapping fingers above her face. "Hey, now, wake up. I can't have you going to sleep on me," Alexis looked to Emile questioningly. He pointed to his head. "You have a concussion. This is the first time you woke up without screaming bloody murder and I'd like you to stay awake for at least an hour to make sure you're okay. I can already see some side effects."

"Side effects?" Alexis didn't even realize she was falling asleep, but at least she knew why she was sluggish and her eyes heavy. She knew the consequences of falling asleep to a potential hazardous head injury. She considered sitting up but knew it would only aggravate her teammate and her side, so instead she rolled her head to stare at the dying embers of the fire. Conversation would have to do.

"Your speech is slower, as is reaction time. Your pupils are slightly unfocused and you're more sentimental than normal."

"What's that suppose to mean?"

He chuckled. "How's your head?"

She huffed. "Slight headache."

"Eyesight?"

"Fine."

"Hearing?"

"What are you, my doctor?"

"Just answer the question."

"... I hear buzzing."

He only hummed and there was silence. She took the few minutes to observe that they were in a cave, that what little she could see outside from the high entrance it was still dark. Questions arose from when she had last been conscious. What happened outside? What time was it? How'd they get here without being seen? Why isn't Emile worried about being found?

Snapping fingers startled her again. He sighed when she gave him a thankful nod and went back to staring at the fire.

"How bad was it, Emile?"

He said nothing at first, having finished his menial task and went to staring at the fire as well. It took him a moment to actually say something, and his voice was quiet. "It was bad. Nearly lost you twice. Once when you first regained consciousness; made enough noise to attract a lot of attention. Barely got us out of there in time before you bled out. And again when I brought you here. You went into shock." He sniffed. "I didn't need to see another one of my own dying in front of me so soon."

The tone of grief was light on his tongue, enough to be ignored if one wasn't paying attention to it. Alexis always paid attention. "I made it didn't I?"

He let out a chuckle. "You did. Albeit stubbornly." Shifting to kneel next to her, a tube of something in his hand, he motioned for her to sit up. "Now I know you just got up, but let's change those bandages so that I can get this on the wound." She did as told, sluggishly removing the blanket to reveal her covered chest and bandaged mid-section. The black matte skin suit was still worn around her bottom half, the top half having been rolled down to her waist. There was another blanket beneath her, both of them small but enough to get their purpose done to protect her wound from infection by dirt.

"What territory did you bring us to?"

Emile set a hand beneath her shoulders as Alexis used her elbows to push herself up. She grit her teeth as the pain made itself known with each miniscule movement. "We're still in Viery. It's the only one the Covenant don't seem to want to touch much."

"That can be either a good thing, or a bad thing. I'm going with the latter." When she was up straight, leaning on her left arm shakily, Emile went straight to work, glad that exposure of body parts wasn't a huge issue between Spartans do to hormone suppressors. And because they simply didn't care much. Bodies were bodies. Privacy mattered, sure, but there was a time and place for those when not under threat.

"I wouldn't look at it if I were you."

"And now that you say that, I'm going to look."

He laughed and Alexis looked down to her revealed stomach, only to cringe in horror at the damage done. A nasty puckered and bubbly red burn was like a beacon on her pale complexion, the sword injury that pierced through her body, narrowly missing her inner organs just shy of a few centimeters, was crudely sewn shut. The entire thing was literally all of her right side, not a sign of normal skin to see.

"I can safely say that this is the worst wound I've ever had."

"I told you not to look."

"Well excuse me for being curious of my own body." She stared at her covered feet instead.

He laughed again. "Major second degree burns, some minor third degree. I managed to soothe it some when I came by a stream," Emile started squeezing an ointment looking paste onto his now bare hands. "You didn't even stir when I dunked you in. It stopped most of the blisters from growing but that's when your bleeding started. It was only a trickle so I biofoamed it and left you alone in an alcove to hunt down medical supplies," as gently as he could, he spread the paste over the angry wound, making her cry out as the skin burned on contact. "Sorry... I managed to find just enough equipment to sew the open wounds and bandage you up before shock or hypothermia set in after your first waking fiasco."

She chortled after sucking in a breath. "You're sewing sucks."

"... I'd hit you if you weren't injured."

"Than I win this battle," she smirked.

Emile sighed and unrolled a new bandage once the ointment was smeared evenly across her skin. "I'll assume your concussion is minor than, seeing as you still have your witty tongue."

"I'll take the compliment justly," and they both fell silent as the bandage was wrapped around her. When he finished, he helped her lie back down, settling the tattered blanket back over her exposed upper body.

"It'll be a couple days before you're back in fighting shape, Lieutenant. So I suggest taking it easy," Emile sat back down, taking his weapons off to lean against the wall next to her.

She blinked owlishly. "What about the Covenant?"

He looked down at her, a sad quirk on his lips. "You've been out for four days, Six. The bastards have moved on to the next helpless city. You and I are the last ones in this area... We'll be fine." She saw his grip tighten around his shotgun.

Four days?

She was never out for more than a few hours.

Alexis didn't know how to feel about this. She knew she should be angry, sad and distressed even, but at the same time she felt nothing. Was that the concussion or has she actually blocked off emotion from feeling anything like many times before? But this was a city, an entire planet! One she was actually a part of, never having to deal with planetary defense before, just special operations. Was she suppose to cry? To seek revenge. Deep down she knew she did.

For the rest of her hour, Alexis sipped on water from Emile's canteen and ate very little, eventually drifting into slumber, caught in burning dreams and horrifying nightmares.

* * *

_**XxXXxX**_

* * *

"Still can't believe you took out all those aliens on your own. You sure you never got some help."

"No one was alive when I came upon it. It was all me."

"So the rumors about you being able to take on and silence militias?"

"All true."

"Since when?"

"Since I was drafted from my company right after my training was complete."

Silence. "How old are you, Six?"

"Twenty-six."

He laughed. "Convenient. And you're this lethal?"

"I guess. I actually never wanted to become a Spartan. I was almost too old to go through with it, but then the docs found I had the special something Halsey looked for in her Spartan-II's; they didn't risk losing me. Guess that explains why I mouth off sometimes."

"You're quiet most of the time."

A shrug. "Comes with the assassin part of my profession. I don't normally talk unless spoken to."

"So you're a pilot, an assassin, a one man militia, and a good shot? Where've you been all my life?"

They laughed.

* * *

_**XxXXxX**_

* * *

"So how'd you fight the aliens off me when even_ I_ was outnumbered and overwhelmed?" She fiddled with her combat knife, throwing it up and catching it with her left hand. She still wasn't allowed up according to her 'doctor', even though it's been a good five days. She knew, she counted them by the fading sunlight outside.

Emile didn't stop his cooking of the decently sized bird he managed to hunt down and hour ago. "Simple. I'm badass."

Alexis caught the knife by the blade and gave him a look. "Seriously?"

He grinned. "You were injured pretty bad, enough to hinder your reflexes. I was just tired and you know we can beat through that easily. I shot at the Zealot with the sword first, which is why he missed your vital point. All of them thought you dead when you didn't move and went after me. Took a bit but I killed each and every one before I could finally scoop you up and out of there before more came," he pulled a silver cylinder from his waist and showed it off. "Even got myself a souvenir." He activated the energy sword with a _shhhh_ and the blue light lit up the entire cave.

"Charming." She took a drink of water from the canteen.

"Comes with the job."

A knife suddenly pierced through the animals chest, and Alexis laughed at Emile's bewildered face. She grinned when he deactivated the sword and took the knife out of their meal. "Really?"

"Just showing off."

* * *

_**XxXXxX**_

* * *

It was a silent night. Emile was out scouting the area so he'd be gone for an hour or two. Alexis had recovered enough to at least hold her own with his assault rifle in case something were to happen. But at the moment, she was content to just stare into the small fire.

She lay on her undamaged side, her left arm pillowing her head. Her mind was clearer, thoughts running through them and past memories flashing by. The concussion, she assumed, had passed. But the more she thought, the gloomier she became. Emile wasn't there to talk to her, her ears were buzzing in the constant silence. A headache was beginning to form.

She missed them.

Jorge. Kat. Carter. Jun.

She missed them all. Three she knew were dead. She'd seen them first hand. One was MIA.

She missed Jun's constant banter. Alexis wasn't much of a talker, but when someone who had everything and nothing to talk about, she'd engage with them, however small. Jun was always the one to keep her from being bored, always wanting to show off his sniper skills when she had one of her own. He trusted her right off the bat for reasons he never explained, which helped her greatly when transitioning from being a lonesome warrior to a team player.

She wanted to yell at Jorge for sacrificing himself, for throwing her flailing body off the ship as she watched him turn and detonate the bomb. How selfish he was for making her care about him, only to lose him so soon. Alexis missed his wise words and caring disposition. His ideals and stories about his brethren. Those were always something to listen to, to hear the differences between them and the newest generation. It was a needed change from a Spartan-III lifestyle. She found a bond with him she didn't share with the others. She speculated that it was because they thought alike.

She wanted to hit Kat so hard for being so stupid as to not keep up with her. She wondered over and over again how her fate could have been different if she hadn't looked back at the glassing site through the elevator windows. The glassing was a huge shock, yes, but a Spartan was always focused. Out of all of them, she knew Kat the longest, knew her strengths and weaknesses simply by growing up with her. They were 'frenemies' as their instructors were to say. Each trying to outclass the other in good fun but never admitting that they enjoyed it. And although it was curiosity that killed her - it was always her hitch - Alexis missed how Kat could always find ways to surprise her as she wasn't easily shocked.

She just wanted to go back in time to give Carter a good honest hug. As well as a kick in the ass. Alexis wasn't big on sentimentality but the guy needed a consoling hug from the death of his girl and closest teammate, watching him mourn her as they waited for pick-up three days later, carrying her into the Pelican and disappearing with her when they reached base. His drastic change in tone since her passing... He deserved a kick in the ass for being a hero. The way he went out would be considered honorable and protective, but also an act of grief as he possibly couldn't live with the fact that Kat died before he could say anything. She couldn't possibly know about that though. Neither were open to discussing their relationship.

Jun's amusing conversations.

Jorge's calming character.

Kat's unsuspecting ways to know things.

Carter's overprotective guidance.

Alexis tucked her head in the crook of her elbow, feeling the sting of her nose and the watering of her eyes and cursed. God damn ONI! They want to see her break, she just knew it. She was no good in teams and she kept telling them so. She refused to work in a team for this exact reason. She had no word against Holland though. Losses killed her emotionally. Not at the time they happen but in the long run where she actually had time to contemplate them, to mourn them properly. Kurt and Frank were practically the only ones who knew this. She wouldn't doubt Halsey knew as well or her last superior.

A hand rested on her shoulder, and the silent tears fell.

"Even a Spartan cries, Alexis. You don't have to hold 'em back." It was the closest to a confession from Emile that he too cried for his fallen brothers that she'll ever get. She suddenly felt undeserving. The guy knew them a lot longer than she did.

* * *

_**XxXXxX**_

* * *

**24:34 HOURS, SEPTEMBER 13, 2552 (MILITARY CALENDAR) /  
****EPSILON ERIDANI SYSTEM, UNSC MILITARY COMPLEX, PLANET REACH  
****UNKNOWN LOCATION**

A little over a week passed before Alexis was able to remotely move. The sting of the wound was still strongly apparent, but it was at the point where she could grit her teeth and bear it enough to move to a new location. The Covenant might be gone, but not their search parties and they've stayed in the cave longer than what was safest.

"I don't know why you kept this thing when I can hardly use it anymore," Alexis turned her helmet around, gliding a gloved hand across the sharp edges of the broken visor as she leaned her weight against the rock wall.

It felt so good to stand again, even if it was in a slightly slumped position.

Emile - garbed in full gear - grabbed the back and front pieces of her armor. "You can still use its communications and its protection." Alexis spread her arms to each side - her right going only so far - allowing him to attach the equipment to their spots as she wasn't able to do so. There was a gaping hole on her right side, covered only by the white bandages beneath her matte suit, but so long as he stuck to that side of her, she'd be fine. "Nice chuck at the grunt though."

She stared at the blue mark where the helmet hit said alien. "I was aiming for the Elite. I'll still be blind as a bat, you know."

"That's what you have me for."

"I feel so safe already." She earned a small shove in jest. Her suit hissed as it connected with the last of her armor pieces, the compression a good feeling of protection around her skin. She hissed however when the compression came too close to her burn. As a finishing touch, he handed her his MA5 and one f his sidearms, keeping the M45 for himself. "So, did you have a destination in mind?" she asked, checking the ammo. "Or were you just planning on moving from location to location?"

Emile turned to her after having poured water on the fire pit, their augmented sight enough for them to see in the total darkness. "We're headed north, actually."

"North?" Alexis waved away the smoke attacking her face.

"When I headed out last, I got a something from the E-Band radio. Here," he helped her put the helmet on as it needed two hands. Alexis adjusted it accordingly, a bit unnerved that she didn't see her readings, hear a hiss, or feel the compression. "I'm sending you the feed I recorded."

It took a minute for the helmet to calibrate itself. She could imagine the feeds she'd be getting if the visor was still there, giving her input on health, shields, weapons, and radar. When it finally did, and she opened the COM channel to receive Emile's file, it was a short clip of only seven varying whistles. She listened to them intently, trying to make it out as she replayed it over and over.

"I don't get it," she looked to him. "It's just whistles."

"But it's suppose to mean something. Why else would they put it on the emergency channel?"

"I don't know... You sure it's coming from the north?"

"Who's the one with the working helmet?"

Alexis only rolled her eyes. After making sure they had everything of use, she followed her teammate to the exit, which happened to be an incline of smooth rock. She sighed inwardly and followed his footsteps precisely, finding nooks their boots could cling to. It took her longer to reach the top, Emile helping her climb the last few feet with ease. She was breathing mildly from the small excursion.

"Damn it." _This is going to take a lot longer to recover from. _Without proper medics to look at her injury, it was definitely going to hinder their progress.

"I'd say take your time, but we've gotta start our hike," Emile positioned himself on her right. "I don't know how far we have to go and we've overstayed our welcome."

"I know," she took a deep breath of the night air and stood straight. It was the first time she looked upon what was once green lands. Burning fields, red scars, dark clouds billowing upwards into the red sky, and ash everywhere. Being so high up gave them a good view of the flaming landscape. It was horrifying and unrecognizable.

"We never even had a chance."

Stealing herself like many times before, Alexis sniffed and waved a hand out. "Just lead the way, Emile. We don't have all night."

He nodded, took his shotgun out and started heading down the mountain side. The view still bothered him as well.

They traveled an easy mile northward with no conversation. They traveled three more miles in a similar fashion. By the tenth mile, nearly four hours into their walk, Alexis was on the brink of overexertion. She stood against a tree maybe ten yards behind Emile, who was scouting ahead at the moment as they were walking from wooded land to open hills. Her left hand hovered over the wound, unable to touch it to soothe it. They were nowhere close to a spot where a campout was possible. The nearest city they were closest to was still several miles ahead of them, and although that distance was nothing to a Spartan, at the current moment, she was dreading it.

"You all right, Six?" He asked concernedly, having come back.

"Peachy," she nearly growled out.

Emile sighed. "Come on. We're almost there."

"Anything from the E-Band?"

"Just the same set of whistles."

She nodded. "What are the coordinates to this place anyway?" He told her after a seconds' hesitation and her eyes widened. Immediately she stood away from the tree, stumbled a bit, caught herself, and walked to the crest of the hill.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

Alexis ignored him, instead training her eyes on the horizon, ignoring the desolation and scrutinizing every detail she could. Everything seemed to burn red, blocking out the moonlight with black clouds. Scars from plasma bombardment still shone orange and large craters or trenches marred the once beautiful scene. She saw a lone corvette ship hovering over the city west of them, tiny spots that were cruisers or banshees floating around it. Covenant were still glassing and resting was out of the question.

She finally pointed to a set of mountain ranges a bit to the east, away from the town they once headed for. The sky was less red colored, the sky its normal nightly color. "That's where we're headed."

Emile followed her finger and rose a brow. "The mountains?"

"What we're headed for is on the other side in the valley. I'm sure of it."

"What is?"

"Our destination."

"Care to elaborate?"

He was disregarded when she set off briskly, ignoring the sting and burn her body loathed. "Six, wait!"

"Come on!"

"Six!" He groaned in annoyance when he still got no response and caught up to her. "You're doing that secrecy thing again, aren't you?"

"I'm a classified mess, remember? There are things I know about that I shouldn't and won't tell you."

"But you know what's over there." He rose a brow.

"Yes."

"So you lied to us when you said you've never been to Reach."

"No."

He blinked. "No?"

"I've never been to Reach." She gave him a look that said otherwise.

Emile shook his head and chuckled. "Yeah, right. Classified stuff."

"You're catching on."

"Think you can handle the trek?" he looked to her hovering hand, and slight limp.

"I can tough it out until we reach the mountains' base."

Emile stared at the distance. "That's a good fifty or so miles, Six."

"Then we better get started."

Five miles later and Emile had enough. For over two hours, on top of watching their surroundings, he listened to her breathing become heavy, watched her pace slow, and her limp worsen. He saw the strain of determination around her eyes, as well as the struggle to continue. He wasn't about to indulge on her stubbornness and so finally stepped in front of her to make her stop as soon as it was safe to do so. "You need to rest."

Alexis glared at him. "We need to get to the mountain."

"Not in your current condition we aren't." She tried side stepping him but he grabbed her arm and pulled. She cried out when it sent a blaze down her side and she fell back. He caught her easily by the front of her armor and propped her up against a series of jutting rocks beneath an overhang, a boot on one of her own to keep her from getting up.

"I fucking hate you right now," she hissed.

"Glad to know we're on similar grounds," he crouched. "Listen. Whatever it is that you won't tell me about can wait. We're in open land with Covenant still hovering around us. We can't risk you limping about to defend yourself."

"I thought that's what I had you for."

"Don't be smart. We wait an hour, and then we'll head off again, deal?"

Alexis didn't like it. She knew she was slowing down, was most likely aggravating Emile with keeping it to herself. In her defense, it was how she always worked. Injured and near unconscious, she still got her job done. Lives didn't wait for her to recover. She pushed and pushed until she dropped. With their destination a known location she refused to tell her partner, despite whatever they were using as an emergency call, she wasn't willing to stop. She wouldn't have stopped but she had to admit that Emile had a point. She was injured, a lot worse than she previously thought, and they wouldn't do any good with her like that if they ran into trouble. They still had many miles to go and she stared at that path until she relented and sighed. "Just one hour."

Nodding, he sat down with her and gave her his canteen. She needed it more than he did. But just as she accepted it, uncapped it and took a drink, a very familiar and dreaded whistle reached their ears. Not a second later did a large glowing blue ball land barely ten feet from them, hissing savagely.

"Shit!" Unable to dodge fast enough, Emile practically jumped on top of Alexis, slamming a fist into the ground to activate his armor lock. Instinctively, Six curled under him, turning her head away from the blast. The heat was too close for comfort, the sound nearly deafening without the visor to completely block it out. The moment the explosion passed, rock and dirt now covering their armor, Emile unlocked, grabbed her arm and pulled her upright.

"Go!"

They both ran away from the overhang, Emile sticking to her right the entire time. Both had their weapons out but was unable to find where the attack came from. Plasma bullets and needles suddenly followed their wake, their shields deflecting the minor shots but unable to keep up the barrage for long. He shot shell after shell of bullets at the hills closest to them, hearing some satisfying deaths. Alexis used single precision shots from her pistol, finding the snipers and taking them out as she went, right arm tucked to her side. They were no match for her even without her visor.

"On your nine!" she turned and took out a Grunt readying its plasma blast.

"Five o'clock!" he turned and took out the Jackal.

No Elites, and that's what was worrying. Adrenaline pumped through her veins, her attention focused solely on surviving as they booked it across the hills, staying at least ten feet apart so it'd be harder to take them both out.

And then it was deja'vu all over again.

Time slowed as they came upon a deep trench. They had no choice but to go inside as Grunts and Jackals cornered them from behind in numbers that caught them off guard. Both knew it was a trap, both knew that it could possibly be their death with the hollering whoops and cheers from the missing Elites. But both also knew that the any alien standing over them from the drop-off, prepped and ready to take them out, were about to go through a Hell none of them wished to get involved in.

Emile ran out first, the shotgun clicking from empty clips. He cursed and switched to his pistol, taking out the Grunts. Alexis ran out soon after, having killed four Elites beforehand.

"I'm running out of options, Six!" he shot and took down another Elite, only for another to replace it.

"Good thing I'm ambidextrous!" Before he could question it, Alexis tugged a grenade from his belt and pulled the pin, waiting only three seconds before lugging it up at three Elites and a Jackal. The grenade went off, depleting shields enough for Emile to take them out with headshots. It was about this time their own shields depleted completely and she quickly threw down her drop shield.

"Where the hell did you have that hiding!?" Emile shouted, having been taken by surprise by the blue bubble.

"How else did you think I managed to stay alive for hours before you found me?" she took the limited time to catch her breath, feeling her energy being restored and switched her pistol to the assault rifle.

Both Spartans jumped at the sound of several explosions above them, followed by the screams of dying aliens. The Elites were momentarily distracted, turning their heads to look at something they couldn't see and she saw fear flash through their movements. A tug had her running out of the shield and up the last few yards of the trench, when she reached the opening to quickly turn around, she was astonished to find a rocket 'hog firing away at the small armada of aliens trying their best to fight it off.

"Lets go!" She threw Emile the two-handed weapon who caught it effortlessly, picking up a stray plasma rifle herself to downsize the remaining Elite's shields as they ran into the fray. They must have dropped twenty more aliens before the Covenant realized they were outclassed and outweaponized despite their huge numbers. They quickly turned to withdraw back into the hills, leaving the dead behind.

Emile snorted. "They retreated fast."

"And without firing back," Alexis scrutinized the battlefield, her eyes hard on just how many were left dead before directing them to the hog. "They weren't here on accident."

Hydraulics hissed as the warthog depressurized and shut off as soon as the threat was nowhere in sight. Alexis and Emile came up to it carefully, their weapons trained on it. The vehicle was one of their own, but they didn't know if the person was as well. Until, that is, they stepped down from the back with a hard thump and came into view. Their weapons faltered at the sight of a Spartan-II in burnt HAZOP armor.

"Spartans?" he sounded surprised as well, stopping just a couple feet from them. He noticed both were third generation, their armor having seen better days. "Are you two okay?" as well as the lack of a visor on one. He rose a brow.

"Fine, sir," Alexis lowered her gun, and nodded. "We look worse than we are. Lieutenant Alexis-B312. I apologize for not saluting," she gestured to her injury.

"Warrant Officer Emile-A239," he followed suit and saluted. "It's good to see you here, sir."

"Likewise," the Spartan saluted the both of them, recognizing their higher ranks. "Petty Officer Second Class Joshua-029. I'll admit that I'm surprised to find survivors out here. Haven't seen any in days."

"Neither have we, unfortunately. We've been cooped up in a cave for the past week."

"Doing what?" his voice hardened a little, as if the act was intentional for them to avoid combat.

Alexis piped up, matching his tone. Senior to her or not, she wasn't going to allow him to speak that way against their actions. "Recovering," again she gestured to her injury. "Emile saved me from dying by potential shock. We just headed out a few hours ago."

Joshua shifted. It was clear to him that she loathed to stay in one place just by her daring tone for him to continue on that subject. So he nodded instead. "Glad to see you're up and well than." After a brief pause he pointed behind himself, in the direction where the aliens ran off. "That was a pretty big company of Covenant. How'd you two manage to get tangled up with them?"

Emile shrugged his shoulders. "Could've been several parties coming back from their hunts. They've been scouring for days now. Wouldn't be surprised if we ended up in their path."

"Or," Alexis cut in. "We ran into them. They were headed where we were intended. They wouldn't have scurried back as fast otherwise. There was a mission at hand."

Joshua tilted his head, his eyes narrowing slightly beneath his helmet. "And where were you headed?"

She turned and gestured to the mountain range. "In the valley across the mountains."

"There's a broadcast going out through the E-Band radio," Emile said. "But we can't decipher what it means, only that it's coming from that direction."

Joshua hummed. "I've been getting the same thing for days now. I was headed in that way when I came across you guys." Joshua grinned secretly beneath his helmet and motioned them to the warthog, keeping a neutral tone. "Come on, grab anything you need here and I'll give you a lift. If their sending that over the emergency COM, someone needs help."

* * *

_**XxXXxX**_

* * *

_**Author's Note**_

Surprise! Joshua enters the battle! I love him, even though he's not mentioned a lot. The creators also left his death in the air and so decided to bring him in. There's not much of his personality mentioned in the Halo Nation site, and my book he features in is currently inaccessible to get a reference, so if anyone wants to help me out and figure this out for me I'd appreciate the help TwT otherwise, I'm picturing him as a semi-serious/comic relief character who knows how to take charge when the needs arises.

This chapter is looooong! xD touching twelve pages without paragraph breaks. I actually did not intend to make it this way but here it is. I couldn't shorten it any more than I've made it. I actually added each time I went over it to elaborate the spots that needed elaboration. I hope no one is deterred by this. I tend to write things descriptively xP and in some cases, I feel like this chapter is rushed or filler-ish. Is it? O.o

Also! I added Alexis' features in the second chapter. I've been trying to find a way to put it in here without her seeming vain, but couldn't until I switched a conversation around. You don't have to reread the chapter, just go to the part where Mackey finds her in engineering. If you want to that is lol

I'd also like to thank everyone who reviewed, favored, followed, or just viewed this story. It's actually getting a lot more attention than I thought it'd get, which makes me happy. Please keep with me on this story, I do intend to finish it through, updating either weekly or bi-weekly depending on where I stand. Days aren't set. And if it takes longer than that, know that it's either because of writers' block or my interest has fallen into another category xD it happens often but I resist to get current projects done.


	4. Five Reasons to Dread

**Title:  
**Hands Held High

**Chapter:  
**Five Reasons to Dread

**Pairing:  
**Master Chief x Noble Six

**Story Summary:  
**She never asked to become one of humanity's greatest warriors; to be a savior, a killer... a Spartan. But she made the most of it by becoming the best there ever was; a hyper-lethal assassin, a lone wolf survivor, a one man army. She's also friendly and damn well protective. Having braved through many trials of death and war at every turn, Noble Six chooses to be a sacrifice in order to ensure everyone who matters survives. But even in death, the ghosts of her past remind her why she works better alone. However, it just isn't her time, for the Covenant/Human War has only just begun and her ending is far from nearing.

**Disclaimer:  
**_**Everything I own belongs to me. Everything I don't own belongs to Bungie, Microsoft, 343 Industries and their respected owners.**_

* * *

_**XxXXxX**_

* * *

**8:56 HOURS, JULY 24, 2552 (MILITARY CALENDAR) /  
****EPSILON ERIDANI SYSTEM, UNSC MILITARY COMPLEX, PLANET REACH  
****VISEGRAD RELAY**

When Alexis first saw Jorge, she was amazed at how tall he was. Of course she'd read it in his file but she thought it was greatly exaggerated. He couldn't possibly be that tall.

She was obviously wrong.

He was a Spartan-II, and if anything she read was right about Spartan-II's, it was that they were taller, among many other things, than the current Spartan-III's. Most of them anyway. She remembered seeing a second gen male barely six-ten without armor once and a female six-eight. It was amusing. But then she'd think of herself and her six foot nine height... with armor. She was six-six without being equipped with a fancy shell, considered one of the shorter Spartan's in her generation. She never minded though, she was content with her stature, simply because she couldn't change it and it worked mostly to her advantage.

Just like now.

Noble Team had just managed to seal themselves within the relay site. Jun having stayed in the skies and Emile staying near the door in case they flushed covies out of their holes. Alexis walked behind Carter and Kat, Jorge taking the rear. She scouted with keen eyes through her night vision, practically creeping her way through dark corridors with her rifle held at the ready until they came upon a dead body in the control room, right in front of the control consol they'd been looking for.

The poor guy was shot with plasma rounds riddling his abdomen. Never stood a chance.

A whispered moan drew Carter's attention to a heavily wounded soldier off to the right. Kat examined the damaged computer, cursing under her breath, and Jorge kept watch behind them.

Something fell from the inside shirt pocket when she went to flip the body over. Picking it up, she examined it. It looked simple, with a small blue glowing square in the middle, barely the size of her palm. A data chip.

"Found something you might like, Two." She presented it.

Turning from the burnt and useless consol, Kat barely gave a look to the device and snatched it away. "I'll take that, Six. I doubt computer tech is your domain."

Alexis rolled her eyes. _Of course Miss High and Mighty._ She tapped three fingers to her thigh armor in a patterned succession to be heard. Kat looked to her for a brief second then tilted her head right to left in subtle mocking.

Translation: _Amusing. Ha ha._

Good to know their system of personal communication still lived.

"I've gotta live one over here!"

All heads and weapons turned quickly to Jorge pulling out a small struggling woman from beneath some stairs. She yelled at him, hitting pointlessly at his armor to let her go, to not hurt her, to run. Alexis wasn't fluent in many languages besides her own few and the English common tongue, but she knew enough Hungarian to realize the girl was warning them.

She saw it first. "Down!"

Jorge ducked just in time to avoid the swipe of an energy sword, bringing the girl under him. Three Zealots emerged and flew at them. Alexis let bullets fly at the sword master as it aimed a strike at Kat, Carter pushing her to the floor to avoid it. When it realized its shields were nearly depleted from her nonstop barrage, it turned on her, tackling her to the ground and knocking her weapon away. She saw briefly one of the Zealots running in Emile's direction, the other she heard off to the side fighting a recovered Kat. Alexis barely managed to stop the energy sword from stabbing into her chest. She punched the alien in the jaw. It roared fiercely in her face before Carter punched it away, shooting at it to back off with a pistol. She was grateful when he kicked her rifle towards her, stood quickly and trained her sights on the two Zealots who now brandished the wounded soldier as a shield.

"That tango blew past me," came Emile's voice through the COM. "Permission to pursue."

The woman was now screaming in the background, the soldier struggling within the tight grasp around his neck, yelling and gasping. Scenarios ran through her head as she assessed what to do. Her options were limited. Both Zealots had shields, which would take more than one bullet to pierce through. The soldier would be dead before the bullet left the barrel. He would be dead either way if they didn't take the bastards down.

The Zealots dashed from the door. The girl screamed louder afraid more were coming.

Carter took the initiative. "Negative Four, stay on the entrance. Two handle the girl. Five and Six, clear the hole."

_My favorite part of the game._

Alexis reloaded her assault rifle, following Jorge into the darkened room. Activating her night vision once more, she swept the area for activity but found nothing. Those aliens moved fast. The resounding boom of the door in the empty room signified that it was them against whatever was in the dark. They could handle it.

To her right, Alexis saw a weapons locker. Quickly she walked over and opened it, smiling deviously at finding more ammo for her DMR and rifle. She grabbed grenades, tossing two to Jorge and keeping four for herself. "Ready for some hide and seek?"

"I think tag will do just fine," the Spartan-II stood tall and menacing as he reloaded the giant weapon and put the grenades to his belt. She was grateful he was on their side.

Both opened fire at the first sight of anything ugly. It was the normal bunch; Grunts, Jackals, and an Elite with a concussive rifle. He held them back the best he could while she used a grenade to flush them out, picking them off one by one as they moved further in. Five minutes later and they were surrounded by dead bodies. She picked up her favored plasma pistol as they ventured into the furthest room, darker than their augmented eyes could see. Through their night vision, the aliens stuck out like sore thumbs.

Jorge, having been the first to enter, quickly counted. "Eight tangos. Zealots in the room. Flush 'em out. I've got ya covered."

And she did without a word. With a single grenade, she managed to aim just right for the explosion to scatter all the Grunts and Jackals out of hiding, making them easy targets for her and Jorge before descending into the lower level. Past nine pumping machinery of some kind, she could see the two Zealots stalking the only open room in this part of the building, each at an entrance but just enough out of reach of a bullet. She took a breath. _I've handled way more._ But she didn't have someone else to worry about, even if he did know how to take care of himself.

She exhaled and moved in slowly. She could feel Jorge's eyes on her until she went behind the pumps. Looking around the last one in the middle row, she saw an opening and took it. She charged the plasma pistol, took aim, and fired the shot at the Zealot with another concussive rifle. The alien cried out in surprise as its shields suddenly died. Alexis quickly took out her DMR and fired a headshot. The perfect weapon combo.

The sword master was faster, catching the bullet with its own shields before turning on her with a roar for a second round. Alexis backpedaled when it charged, gritting her teeth as she dodged back into the pumps, the sword barely missing her arm. It followed her, growling, weaving through the stacks after her in some kind of game of keep away until she left it two presents that went _boom_. She smirked at the aliens squawk of surprise, heading towards the other who found it funny to shoot consecutively at Jorge.

Charging head on, Alexis tackled the unsuspecting Elite to the floor and barraged its face with plasma fire. Angered, it flailed and flipped them over. Now over her, it clawed and punched its way through her own shields, having lost its weapon and dealing hers away. She caught a hand, death gripping it and punched the bastard over the head twice. It didn't see her working her legs up between them until she pushed up and it went over her head. Alexis grabbed her combat knife, scrambled to her feet and jumped the thing as it tried to stand. The Elite stood no chance with the knife now embedded in its neck. She stabbed it again through the back where one of its hearts were for good measure. It'd bleed out by the time they were done.

The other Zealot choked on his coughs, the duel blast from the Demons' grenades taking out his shields and putting shrapnel in his chest that was now oozing blue blood. He growled, frustrated that he had to deal with this thing again. It was tiny compared to the others and yet somehow had more than enough strength to handle itself. He watched the Demon take down his brother as his shields charged. Two against one would put that puny machine down but than there was the other up top shooting when it can. Stealing himself, the Zealot rushed to the side, avoiding the barrage of bullets aimed at him and went up the ramp. Sword out and ready to strike, he was more than aware that he might die by the giant, but he would not go down without bringing it with him.

Jorge was amazed with how fast this new Six was. Quick on her feet, and even faster in plays. It was like watching a ghost. One moment she was there, the next she's gone, having left death in her wake. He kept up his end and helped her where he could, but barely a shot was used as she took care of the smaller aliens. Until she drew the sword Zealot out and distracted it long enough for the other to recover to fire those blasted concussive rounds. He cried out when one came very close to his head, hearing the bastard laughing in that guttural sound. He fired back, managed to lower its shields again before he had to stop to see why there was an explosion. That's when Six barreled into it. Watching her wrestle with something two feet taller than her had him believe she couldn't handle it. Watching her get pinned confirmed this and he was about to head down - unwilling to let another Six die - when the sword wielder ran from cover and up the ramp towards him. He fired but missed.

It turned the corner with sword out, Jorge fired again with lethal precision. Like the other, he managed to drop its shields but it was already too close to do much else. It only took one swipe of an energy sword to take down a Spartan with full shields, and regardless of his size, he was no match for it. He swung the gun to parry the sword and hit the Elite across the jaw. It roared and reared back, only to recover and come again. He dropped the gun, ready to wrestle the Elite just as the sword came down.

Six vaulted over the side of the wall and jumped on the aliens back.

The sword struck the ground, barely missing his feet. It roared at the disadvantage it was in as it tried to claw her off, swirling in vicious circles away from the Spartan, unable to use the sword in case of hurting itself in the process. Too little too late did it finally manage to grab her and twist her off, for a glowing blue ball was stuck to the back of its head.

Alexis smirked beneath her helmet and activated her armor lock just as Jorge did. The explosion passed them easily, but sent alien brain bits everywhere.

Jorge unlocked first, staring at the blue blood splattered across the floor as he stood in astonishment. Alexis unlocked seconds after, sitting on her butt from when the Elite threw her. Adrenaline blazed through her veins, her breathing even, but she sighed anyway.

_That went well._

A hand clamped around the scruff of her armor and pulled her upright, making her tense. "You all right?" Jorge inquired, setting her down. His tone was even, but his eyes roamed her body for injuries that she might have sustained. He found none but a few new scratches.

Alexis checked herself over, actually having to slow her heart with being unexpectedly man handled. "Dandy."

"That was a pretty ballsy move, Six."

She paused briefly, the title still foreign, but replied fast enough to make it look like she hadn't. "So is you taking him on."

"Says the person who's done it twice."

"Two separate Elites, Five."

"Which makes you crazy."

"I like to call it 'being creative'," she included finger quotations.

He chuckled but quickly sobered as he checked the silent room. "Survivor didn't make it?" She quirked her lip and shook her head. She saw the body within the room, pooling blood from the sword wound in his chest. He nodded and called the all clear.

* * *

_**XxXXxX**_

* * *

Shortly after declaring WINTER CONTINGENCY, Noble was to report back to their base for a debrief. All of them - aside from herself - had been working nonstop for the past week and was ordered a short down time before their next shipment.

Carter didn't like the idea, but kept it to himself as he couldn't argue with Holland. Jorge, on the other hand, was very vocal about leaving his home unprotected for even a second. He was about to fight tooth and nail to quarrel this when he was promptly shut up the same way Alexis was earlier before the group was dismissed.

Around ten o'clock, she found him dressed in his casuals cleaning his red and yellow armor thoughtfully when she walked into the makeshift armory made locker room. She had been on a mission to collect her clothing for a similar task, the others having retired temporarily to their bunks. He stood as soon as he saw her and saluted, almost half heartedly, due to rank. She made no move to talk, seeing no need to, only acknowledging that he was there with a dismissing nod. He was obviously engaged in an internal battle that she didn't want to disturb, who was she to butt in to that. It wasn't her business and she respected people's privacy greatly.

The locker assigned to her shut, the standard UNSC navy blues settled on the bench in front of her. When she got them, she didn't know, only told that her belongings were in this locker. It wasn't until she took off her helmet and set it down did Jorge fill the silence. "Reach is my home planet, you know that?" Alexis looked to him curiously. She did know that. "I will die for this place, and sitting here to do nothing will only let it fall faster."

It was an open invitation, his talking an obvious sign that he hoped for some conversation or at least for someone to listen. Alexis wasn't one to talk in such predicaments but as an afterthought, it meant she was being welcomed to the world that was Jorge, something she never envisioned would happen with any of Noble, not even Kat. It was a stepping stone that he was willing to provide because as far as she knew, they were rarely placed. She also knew Carter and Emile weren't the type to sit and listen to others problems, the former would find it awkward, the latter wouldn't have the words. Kat and Jun still have their planet, and although both would most likely listen, neither could say they knew what he was feeling.

He was testing out her waters and she indulged quietly.

"I just lost my home."

Jorge turned to her.

"Sigma Octanus IV was under siege. Although we didn't lose the planet, I did lose my birthplace..."

"Côte d'Azur."

She nodded and sat down on the bench in front of her, just two down from him. "It was the only place I knew up until the age of eleven. I never had a family, no Spartan-III does, but I did remember having friends. One in particular. I risked my life to see that I could go back and help... By the time I got there, everything was already gone," she shrugged. "I took my anger out on a mission dealing with Covenant Zealots not long after. I was only to recover something, but chose to dispatch the threat as well, risking myself and the mission."

Jorge noticed her clenched hands, her gaze down on them, no doubt having residual anger someplace she kept hidden. After a moment, she clasped them together and looked back up at him. "It may not be a planet, but home is home. And I too would die to defend mine."

They both were silent upon the sudden spill of emotion. To a non-Spartan, it was so miniscule it would sound nonchalant, but to their own ears, it was enough to tell each other that they were breaking inside, glued together to stay together.

"I'm sorry."

She shook her head, neither accepting nor denying the sentiment. "There are two things I learned with the destruction of my home," she held up a finger. "First is to accept the shoulders of those who want to help."

"You don't seem that type," he gave her a small smirk.

"I'm not. This is a one time thing." She gave him one in return. "Second: _A carne di lupo, zanne di cane._" Jorge gave her a puzzled look. "It roughly means, you must meet roughness with roughness. They destroyed my home, I will gladly do the same. Anything less will get you nowhere."

"Returning the favor," Jorge hummed.

Alexis shrugged again. "Essentially."

He looked at her. "What language was that? Spanish?"

"Italian."

"Native tongue?"

She tilted her head left to right. "Sort of. From what I remember, I'm told I was Italian. But also Swedish."

"That's an interesting combination. Bilingual?"

"Polyglot," he gave her a disbelieving look. She smirked and began telling him multiple things in five different tongues. Italian, Swedish, Russian, Japanese, and Slavic. "Russian and Japanese are still rusty. I learned Slavic from Kat growing up. I'm still learning others, but it's been difficult."

Jorge huffed a laugh. "Nothing like that was seen in your file."

"It's not really a skill worth mentioning in a war you're born in." She gave him a sad smirk as his turned into a frown. "It does have its moments though." Silence fell between the two, the purpose of her life ending the changing mood. Alexis sighed quietly through her nose and stood, turning to undo her armor. Many lonesome and long missions that she lost count of taught her how to strip it efficiently and quickly if needed when a part happened to be damaged and required maintenance. Her utilities were first, followed by her arms and chest, the steel and ice armor coming off easily to be set down on the bench until she was in nothing but the matte suit.

After a quick change, the other Spartan having gone back to cleaning his armor to allow her a bit of privacy, Alexis took bit by bit to the weapons station. Cleaning cloth in hand, and solvent at the ready, she began scrubbing away the colorful blood and grime.

Not even five minutes go by before a sudden chuckle deters her work to look at Jorge. She rose a brow. "So you can be cursing anyone in any tongue you know, and we'd never know."

She chortled. "It wouldn't be the first time."

"So if I say; _nagyon kicsi_?"

"I'd say; _Ön a kibaszott hatalmas_."

They both had a good laugh, the wall of tension breaking and for the next few hours, spent time swapping stories. There weren't many Spartan-II's she could say she got along with. Most to all she ever encountered hating the Spartan-III's for their sudden appearance to wash them out. Or at least, that was the story. So having sat there and actually talking to one of them, to learn some of their back stories... she felt privileged.

* * *

_**XxXXxX**_

* * *

**20:07 HOURS, AUGUST 13, 2552 (MILITARY CALENDAR) /  
****EPSILON ERIDANI SYSTEM, UNSC MILITARY COMPLEX, PLANET REACH  
****SZURDOCK RIDGE, OSKÖZET**

The feeling of dread was something she was very familiar with.

There were four reasons which gave her this sense now;

First: the Covenant were growing in numbers faster than they could retaliate their attacks.

Second: A lot of ground was being lost in the recent days because of their growth.

Third: Reinforcements were way out of reach. Almost a near month and they were barely getting the bigger guns.

Fourth: There were not enough Spartans to clash against the enemy. It was them, and a few choice Spartan-II's Holland told them about. The others were on their way with the reinforcements.

It started when they found out she was a secret research pilot. Or rather, when Kat blurted it out with her master plan, in which Alexis gave her a look that announced disapproval. Everyone had given her a look of curiosity, but the impassive glance was the main one as they weren't really surprised to find something new about her they've yet known. It happened quite often within the short time they've known her. Alexis merely shuffled on her feet, shrugging in acceptance. She may not be able to say anything, but if someone found out on their own, she wasn't privy to do much about it, even if how they figured it out was considered illegal - Alexis agreed whole heartedly with Emile. Kat _was_ scary sometimes.

The resources were necessary for the mission. Forty-eight hours, waiting for UNSC backup, was not enough time to thwart the Covenant. They'd all be long dead by the time forces arrived.

But space drive malfunctions were way over their heads. The mention of it to take out the super-carrier with one was insane. Let alone suicidal. Kat called it inspired, Alexis would call it maddening. But it would work. With some major convincing and words on her end to Holland - ("To say the site didn't exist would null your reason for wanting my skills as a pilot to begin with.") - that's how they ended up in a very familiar place the next day.

The SABRE Program Research Range was as she knew it from before. The launch spires, Farkas Lake, the forest, the rock-faces, and just how vastly big it was. As soon as they landed on the beach about a mile out, she was put on point, knowing exactly where they needed to be and how to get there. To see it overrun with Covenant put her in a mild state of rage. There was some good researchers here, some she had gotten along with during her stay years before. Pilots too. To see them running rampant or lifeless on the floors when they came inside was enough to push her through a line of Ultras blocking the way to the control station.

No one bothered to tell her to stop.

When it was clear, she led them into the control room and steeled herself from the gore that was inside. Bodies were everywhere. She walked up to a console, many times before seeing the tech guys and researchers open the shutters to reveal the passage towards the aircraft. She did just that after having moved a body from in front of it. The others were in silent awe as the Sabre was revealed, never having seen one, prepped and ready for the pilot as she busied herself with putting in the commands for the computer to follow. Other readings told her other pilots in other stations were doing the same.

"Jorge, Alexis, get to the Sabre before the Covenant wreck it." Carter did not want this mission to go awry. "You're leading the flight team out."

"What about you and Kat?" Jorge didn't want to leave them grounded.

"Jun's on his way with a Falcon. We'll exit out after you've launched."

The Spartan-II nodded. "You heard him, Six. Let's move."

_Who's the pilot here?_ she couldn't help but think with a brow raised but followed anyway. "Don't miss us too much. We'll see you groundside," she said as farewell to the others, catching up to Jorge easily, leading him past the doors and up the stairs.

Everything came easily to her as she climbed into the pilots seat, her hands immediately flying through the necessary pre-flight engagements. The screens all lit green, she felt the weight of Jorge settle into the co-pilot seat behind her.

"Welcome to Air Alexis," she teased over their COM as the stairs released from the aircraft and the canopy closed, flipping switches in succession to the computer launching them. "Please fasten your seatbelts and keep all ligaments of your body inside the craft at all times." She felt the thrusters humming to life as the countdown ended and pushed them frontward, she pushed a lever the final stretch. She smirked. "Warning, pilots have a tendency to fly like a bat out of hell. If you feel fine now, you won't later."

Jorge laughed just as they breached the sky. "You give that speech to all your passengers?"

"It's my opening line."

They passed the clouds. She looked right to see another Sabre following her up. The first stage engine burn passed. To her left, another Sabre. They passed the atmosphere. The engine separation went by flawlessly. She felt the thunks and quickly started up the main thrusters. She was the first to fly out.

"Ever seen your planet like this, Jorge?" Once she was high enough to see the orbital station, she turned the Sabre upside-down, showing off the beauty of the planet past the cloud cover and the borealis rising from the stratosphere. One of the moons was dark ahead of them. Both could see the major spots of orange, the glassed areas of the planet that were too late to save. "Can't say I have," Jorge said quietly.

She righted the fighter just as Holland announced their directive. She headed for the station, breaking off of the formation she subconsciously fell in with the other Sabres.

That feeling of dread came back.

The mission to grab the space drive was more difficult than they thought it'd be. Covenant contacts of Banshees, Seraphs and Phantoms took great time away from Operation: UPPERCUT.

Alexis kept to her word of flying like a bat out of hell as she weaved through the forces as if it were a game; rolling, dodging, flipping and all sorts of maneuvers Jorge never thought a star fighter could do. She made it seem so simple. He had to hold on a lot tighter to his seat than he thought he'd have to, but watching her practically dance in the air, supporting the other pilots with ease and taking out the enemy fliers with less than a scratch on the station or her jet was something amazing to watch. She was in an element no one else shared, he could once again see why she was called a lethal vector, and why Holland wanted her so badly on these skills alone.

The remaining enemies retreated, having no idea what they were about to do. It was safe to grab the drive, but at the cost of watching Sword Base go out in a blue and orange flurry. The last place they saw Dr. Halsey who was like a mother to all of the second generations. Jorge was in shock. Alexis couldn't relate. She had no mother figures, nor father figures. Though Kurt and Frank could come close to the latter as they watched her as she grew.

"Jorge." He never tore his eyes from the grid view as he gave her a nod.

"I'll be fine."

"I'm sure she got out."

He said nothing, not even as she pulled away to rendezvous at the corvette. Jorge was left to the bomb while she took the Sabre team and the UNSC Savannah to the appointed coordinates.

It was a bloody mess from the start.

From taking out rogue Seraphs, to docking on the corvette, losing all the soldiers and pilots inside to make sure the ship heads to the super carrier, losing all the lives on the Savannah because she wasn't fast enough, and heading back up to assist Jorge in taking off enemies from the Pelican. There was a lot of blood spilled.

"The Savannah did a number up top," was the first thing Jorge said to her after the room was cleared. He pointed to the doors she had first come through.

"There's no way back to the Sabres?" Frustration was light in her tone.

"'Fraid not. Sorry, Six." he could only imagine what it was like to lose a fighter. If any of the pilots he's met before were anything to go by, fliers treated their aircraft like children, their babies.

He wasn't too far from the point as Alexis let out a long breath. "And it's too late to find another way up. Damn it!" She turned to view the room, hoping to find some way to the top without having to climb the sides. It'd take too long that way, the bomb having less of a time frame than that to detonate.

_"Distance is closing on this refueling track to the super carrier."_ Dot informed them.

"How long?" she asked.

_"Seventy-six seconds to impact."_

"Bloody hell."

Alexis looked back to Jorge at his curse. He hit the timer hard. "What's wrong?"

He looked to her quietly, then back to the timer to hit it again. "I've got good news and bad news for you." He stepped away and approached her, tall and serious. She shuffled. "This bird took some damage and her thruster gimble is toast, which means the only way off this slag heap is gravity."

She didn't like where this was going. "And the good news?"

"That was the good news." Definitely didn't like this.

_"At current velocity, fifty-three seconds to end point."_

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Jorge took his helmet off, dropping it to the floor without the care he normally held for his armor. Her eyes widened beneath her visor. "Bad news is, timer's fried... I'm gonna have to fire it manually."

"Jorge, that's a one way trip." She hated this.

"We all make it sooner or later."

"Preferably later rather than sooner."

"Which is why you're going, Alexis. They're gonna need you down there."

"And there has to be another way to make this work." Her eyes were already roaming around, but she knew it wasn't possible. She always knew it wasn't possible. Her mouth just refused to listen.

"Not in the span of time we have... Listen," he reached to grab her shoulders, making her look at him. A hand went into his suit to pull his tags off his neck. "Reach has been good to me, always has. And you saved my ass many more times than I can count within this last month. I only know one other person who's done that, and I feel sorry for any who stand in your way should you two meet." He clasped a hand to hers firmly, the tags between the two. "Time's come to return the favor."

Alexis had been frozen until he picked her up. That's when she struggled. "Jorge, no! Please, I can't do that! You know I can't."

"Don't deny me this, Six. You're strong and will pull through," she was silent, staring at him, wishing there was a way. It was one thing to witness a fellow soldier die and mourn, it was a totally different level when it was a fellow Spartan teammate and friend. Rank never stood in the way with them, not since she first arrived and not now. The Spartan-II stopped just shy of the ledge. She put her head down on their formed hands. "I'll see you on the other side, Alexis," she looked up to meet his eyes. "Tell 'em to make it count." She never looked away as he threw her off.

She fell, too numb to move to see where she'd possibly land. She watched the super carrier go out, its entire mid section sucked into oblivion. She wondered if the drive still acted like it was purposed. Wondered if Jorge could survive the jump with only his armor. She doubted it. She recalled the techs tinkering with it, maybe to just add the timer, maybe to attach something else to it. She didn't know.

What she did know, was that the dread she felt was at its highest. Her fifth reason why she felt it to begin with.

Jorge had just died and she watched as an entire fleet of covenant cruisers came out of their jumps in greater numbers than the last, Dot repeating and repeating 'slip space anomaly' until her COM's jammed.

She locked her suit with her armor lock just as the heat of reentry touched her, only one thought running through her head the entire time.

_Jorge had just died for nothing._

* * *

_**XxXXxX**_

* * *

_**Author's Note**_

I have a reference in here regarding heights. Anyone who catches it get kudos! xD

When I first began this chapter, I couldn't stop laughing. Noble Team has their names matching. Carter and Catherine, Jun and Jorge. Emile and Alexis are different but they have a similar sounding beginning xD

Yes I did decide to make my Six a polyglot. She has very little use of it though so never really mentions it. I will elaborate more on this in upcoming chapters as not everyone speaks English. If you want to know which languages I have her know here it is. The languages she knows fully are the five I mentioned up top. The others she's learning are, Hungarian, German, and French. I chose these as she has had a mission on a planet with a least one of these tongues spoken upon it.

_Nagyon kiscsi_ - you are very small.

_Ön a kibaszott hatalmas_ - you are fucking huge.

On this last section of the chapter, every time I read it, it seems rushed. Maybe it's because I said I'd skim over the gameplay parts to avoid boring reading? I don't know. I didn't know how to really word it without going in depth of the exact gameplay, and even though its different for each person who plays it, it's still the same thing. Could you please let me know if I rush anything, and possibly give advice on how to span it out without going into game detail? I hate rushing stories xP

I hope you all like this chapter. Until next time!


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